It is now just dark, and I am at Adam's. I came to Lexington today on the freight train, and walked out here. Adam is going with me directly to take the cars at Lexington. I will go to Greensboro, where I expect to stop till tomorrow evening. They made a good
deal of disturbance on my account in Salisbury last night, tho' they did no damage except to frighten pretty bad
the women folks at Mr Rankin's. The outbreak was much worse than any that occurred at at Chapel Hill. Father was with me, and if they had made an assault upon me there
would have been pretty tough times. After the attack I thought it would be useless for me to remain
any longer, as it might excite the people still more. In fact I have come to the conclusion that it
would be folly for me to make any further attempt at pacification. A good many people in Salisbury are very friendly towards me,but those who are against me are perfectly mad. They have not read my letter and will not
read it. Mr. Rankin is very much affraid that the days of the Union are numbered, and
it would be as were the same state of things existing all over the South which there is from Salisbury South. At Charlotte they have already begun to organise military companies to march
against the North. Mr. Rankin told me that even the presbyterian preachers in South Carolina are mad for disunion. Mr R. has strong notions of leaving Salisbury and retiring to some seclusive mountain district, where he would be
somewhat secure against the ravages of civil war whenever it shall come. I do not think however the
danger is as great as it is supposed. Mr. Tawbs from the Eastern part of the state had not even heard of my letter
while at home, and I think it more than probably that nine tenths of the people know nothing of it,
or the threatened dissolution of the union. If there were some harmless means of making the
disunionists come out andshow themselves they would be scared at their own in-significance. The danger is that by
continued clamor they will present a state of things which will lead to final alienation of the
different sections of the Union.